Satellite footprints

Planet Labs Dove/Flock LEO satellite constellation

Position:LEO
Manufacturer:Planet Labs
Operator:Planet Labs
Launch operators:Arianespace
 GK Launch Services
 Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
 MHI Launch Services
 Orbital ATK
 Rocket Lab
 SpaceX
Launch vehicles:Antares 120
 Dnepr-1
 Electron
 Falcon 9
 H-IIB
 Minotaur C
 PSLV
 Soyuz-2
 Vega
Launch date:
Expected lifetime:6 Years

Planet Labs Dove/Flock LEO satellite constellation is operated by Earth Imaging company Planet Labs. The company currently operates three constellations, SkySat, with 21 satellites, RapidEYE and Doves. The satellites that comprise each constellation have unique spatial, temporal and radiometric resolutions, to capture Earth’s activities from multiple perspectives and dimensions.

The Planet Labs Dove/Flock LEO satellite constellation consists of 10x10x30cm Triple-CubeSat miniature satellites (Doves), equipped with a high-powered telescope and camera programmed to capture different portions of Earth. Each Dove satellite, built in-house, continuously scans Earth, sending data once it passes over a ground station, by means of a frame image sensor. The first Doves prototypes were orbited in 2013. In the years that followed Doves were launched in batches (Flocks) using various launch providers and the ISS.

On January 21st, 2018, a Dove Pioneer CubeSat was part of the payload on an Electron launcher operated by Rocket Lab from New Zealand. It was the first orbital-entry craft launched from a privately owned and operated spaceport at the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand.

In August 2021 Planet signed a multi-launch contract with launch operator SpaceX. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is the world’s most reliable and frequently-flown rocket that offers low-cost rideshare services. The first launch under this agreement was Flock-4x, with 44 SuperDoves CubeSats on the Falcon 9 Transporter-3 SSO rideshare mission launched on January 13th 2022.

On January 3rd 2023 the company launched another 36 CubeSats with the Transporter-6 mission on a Falcon 9 rocket operated by SpaceX.

Satellite Mission Launch Date Launcher Launch Operator
Dove-1 prototype April 21st, 2013 Antares 110 Orbital ATK/NG USA
Dove-2 prototype April 19th, 2013 Soyuz-2 GK Launch KZ
Dove-3 Cluster Mission 2013 Nov 21st, 2013 Dnepr-1 ISC Kosmotras
Dove-4 Cluster Mission 2013 Nov 21st, 2013 Dnepr-1 ISC Kosmotras
Dove Pioneer ‘Still-Testing’ Jan 21st, 2018 Electron KS Rocket Lab NZ
Flock 1 (28 CubeSats) Orbital-1 /ISS Jan 9th, 2014 Antares 120 Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 1b (28 CubeSats) Orbital-2 /ISS July 13th, 2014 Antares 120 Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 1c (11 CubeSats) Cluster Mission 2014 June 19th, 2014 Dnepr-1 ISC Kosmotras
Flock 1d (26 CubeSats) destroyed Oct 24th, 2014 Antares 120 Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 1e (14 CubeSats) Cygnus CRS-6/ISS April 14th, 2015 Falcon 9 SpaceX USA
Flock 1f (8 CubeSats) destroyed June 28th, 2015 Falcon 9 SpaceX USA
Flock 2b (14 CubeSats)   Aug 24th, 2015 H-IIB MHI Launch Japan
Flock 2e (12 CubeSats) Cygnus CRS-4/ISS Dec 6th, 2015 Antares Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 2e’ (20 CubeSats) Cygnus CRS-6/ISS Mar 23rd, 2016 Antares Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 2k (48 CubeSats)   July 14th 2017 Soyuz-2 GK Launch KZ
Flock 2p (12 CubeSats) CartoSat-2 June 22nd, 2016 PSLV-C34 ISRO India
Flock 3k (12 CubeSats)   Dec 27th, 2018 Soyuz-2 GK Launch KZ
Flock 3m (4 CubeSats)   Oct 31st, 2017 Minotaur-C Orbital ATK/NG USA
Flock 3p (88 CubeSats) CartoSat-2 Feb 15th, 2017 PSLV-C37 ISRO India
Flock 3p’ (4 CubeSats) CartoSat-2 Jan 12th, 2018 PSLV-C40 ISRO India
Flock 3r (16 CubeSats) HysIS Nov 29th, 2018 PSLV-C43 ISRO India
Flock 3s (3 CubeSats) SSO-A Smallsat Express Dec 3rd, 2018 Falcon 9 SpaceX USA
Flock 4a (20 CubeSats) EMISat April 1st, 2019 PSLV-C45 ISRO India
Flock 4e (9 CubeSats) ‘Pics-or-it-didn’t-Happen’ July 4th, 2020 Electron Rocket Lab NZ
Flock 4e’ (9 CubeSats) ‘In-Focus’ Oct 28th, 2020 Electron Rocket Lab NZ
Flock 4p (20 CubeSats) CartoSat-3 Nov 27th, 2019 PSLV-C47 ISRO India
Flock 4s (48 CubeSats) Transporter-1/ISS Jan 24th, 2021 Falcon 9 SpaceX USA
Flock 4v (26 CubeSats) VV16 Sept 3rd, 2020 Vega Arianespace FG
Flock 4x (44 CubeSats) CRS-24/ISS Dec 21st, 2021 Falcon 9 SpaceX USA

Planet Labs Dove/Flock LEO satellite constellation

ISRO PSLV launching Dove satellites
Soyuz-2 launching Planet CubeSats
Cygnus cargo arrives at ISS
Dove satellite in orbit
Earth Imaging; Antarctica
Earth Imaging; Dukono Vulcano in Indonesia
Earth Imaging; Louisiana USA
Earth Imaging; Tidal swamp ecosystem Endyalgout Island, Australia